By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice has ordered its civil rights division to pause any ongoing litigation left over from the administration of former President Joe Biden, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday.
The memo freezes any activity in the division, which is tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. It directs the division to not pursue any new cases or agree to settlements, and says the DOJ might revisit some settlements forged by the Biden administration in recent months.
That could potentially affect an agreement reached with Minneapolis earlier this month that imposes reforms on the city’s police department. Federal investigators found a pattern of civil rights abuses there following the murder of a Black man, George Floyd, by police officers.
It also could impact police reforms in Louisville, where investigators found a pattern of discrimination against Black residents after the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor. That agreement was announced in December.
The Biden administration had rushed to wrap up its police oversight work before President Donald Trump took office.
Trump has moved quickly since his inauguration on Jan. 20 to put his stamp on the federal government, launching a crackdown on immigration and taking steps to dismantle diversity programs in federal agencies. He has also pressured private companies to abandon efforts to diversify their workforces.
Trump’s pick to lead the DOJ, Pam Bondi, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. James McHenry, a longtime DOJ immigration attorney, is serving as acting attorney general in the meantime.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Ryan Patrick Jones and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Tom Hogue)
